Nathanaelle Herbelin

Born in Israel in 1989 to a French father and an Israeli mother, Nathanaëlle Herbelin has always been drawn to make work that reflects her position within and between the two cultures. Her works contain subtle hints—both in subject matter and form—as windows into a world imbued with a quiet melancholy. Herbelin encourages the viewer to slow down, as a way of embracing the intimacy involved in viewing art. She has developed a formal style unique within the contemporary tendency towards figurative painting. Certain patterns and colours appear more defined than others in the softened memories that she so delicately captures. Earth tones give the works a quality evocative of a reverie and her loose brushwork recalls post-impressionist techniques. Herbelin has cited Les Nabis—a group of young painters active in Paris during the late 19th century—as a central influence in her practice. Most notably, she takes inspiration from the stylistic poetry that art historical figures such as Pierre Bonnard applied to domestic scenes.

Nathanaëlle Herbelin obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2016, during which time she was invited to participate in an exchange program at The Cooper Union, New York. Recent solo and group exhibitions include the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (2024), French Institute of Tel Aviv (2022), Umm Al Fahem Art Center (2021), Yishu 8 prize, George V Art Centre, Beijing (2021), Passerelle Art Center, Brest (2020), Bétonsalon, Paris (2019), the Beaux-Arts Museum of Rennes (2018), Collection Lambert, Avignon (2017) and Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris (2017).

Her Hayom objects:

A challah cover:
Because the challah cover is supposed to remind us of the layer of dew that enclosed the manna and kept it fresh during the Exodus, Nathanaelle Herbelin made rain drops to protect the holy loafs of bread. The painter worked with various pigments of blue to dye each drop one by one before assembling them together.

She was especially amused by another story behind this beautiful tradition: The challah is covered in order to not be “shamed” by the fact that the wine is drunk before the bread is eaten during the Shabbat service.

Hand-washing vessels in collaboration with Margaux Derhy:
For painters, hands are sacred. They are the main creation tools. That’s one of the reasons Paris-based painters Nathanaelle Herbelin and Margaux Derhy were inspired by the Jewish tradition of Netilat Yadayim that calls for the washing of hands every morning as a reminder to use them for holy purposes. For Hayom, the two friends and artists have chosen to link the action of washing the hands to the world of the sea, by referring their water vessels to both seagulls and shells.